These cranberry orange muffins are moist, fluffy, and are a perfect combination of sweet and tart flavors. Treat yourself to a tasty breakfast, treat, or dessert ready in under 45 minutes using fresh or frozen cranberries, orange zest, and cinnamon!
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💭 Why you’ll love this recipe
- Easy to make bakery style muffins and ready in just 45 minutes from start to finish!
- Perfect for the holidays. These festive muffins are bright, colorful, and the flavors of tart cranberries, orange juice and zest, and cinnamon will make your house smell like the holidays. It’s the perfect addition to your Christmas table!
- Enjoy it any time of the day. These homemade muffins are versatile and can be enjoyed for breakfast, as a snack, or even as a dessert!
📋 Ingredients and notes
To make these delicious cranberry orange muffins, you’ll need all-purpose flour, baking powder, salt, granulated sugar, fresh orange zest, cinnamon, vegetable oil, medium eggs, milk, orange juice, pure vanilla extract, and cranberries.
Variations & Substitutions
- Cranberries. If possible, use fresh cranberries. If using frozen cranberries, make sure they’re not clumped together; this ensures even distribution in the batter. If using dried cranberries, substitute ¾ cup sweetened dried cranberries for every 1 cup or fresh or frozen cranberries.
- Orange. Although you can use bottled orange juice, it’s best to use fresh oranges for the juice as you’ll also need orange zest for this recipe to add a bright, citrus flavor to the muffins.
- All-purpose flour. Use regular all-purpose flour, substitute with whole wheat flour for a healthier alternative, or gluten-free baking flour with a 1:1 ratio.
- Milk. Whole milk or reduced fat milk helps make soft and moist cranberry orange muffins. You can also use non-dairy alternatives such as almond milk, soy milk, or oat milk with a 1:1 ratio.
- Add walnuts, pecans, or chocolate chips for additional flavor and crunch!
📖 How to make cranberry orange muffins
Step 1:
Preheat your oven to 400°F and prepare a 10 to 12 muffin tray or muffin pan lined with paper liner or silicone muffin cups.
Step 2:
Bring the eggs out of the fridge to allow them to come to room temperature. Zest the oranges into a small bowl and squeeze ¼ cup of the orange juice.
Step 3:
In a large bowl, sift together the dry ingredients: flour, baking powder, and salt.
Step 4:
In a separate bowl, mix sugar and orange zest until evenly combined, resembling wet sand. Afterwards, whisk in cinnamon, vegetable oil, milk, eggs, orange juice, and vanilla until thoroughly mixed.
Step 5:
Combine the sugar mixture with the flour mixture, stirring just until no flour streaks remain.
Step 6:
Gently fold in the cranberries. Divide the batter among the muffin cups and, if desired, sprinkle with additional sugar.
Step 7:
Bake for 25 minutes or until the tops are golden brown, and a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean with a few crumbs. Baking time for frozen cranberries might be slightly longer.
Step 8:
Allow the muffins to cool in the pan for a few minutes before removing and serving. You can also drizzle them with cranberry sauce (homemade, from dried cranberries or from canned cranberries) if you wish!
👩🏽🍳 Tips for the best cranberry orange muffins
⭐ Cranberry orange muffins with streusel topping. Add a crunch to every bite by making a crumb topping! Combine butter, brown sugar, granulated sugar, and cinnamon in a bowl and mix until smooth. Next, add flour and mix at medium speed until a granulated texture forms. Top each muffin with a tablespoon of streusel topping before baking!
- Zest only the orange part and avoid the bitter white pith.
- Allow eggs to come to room temperature before incorporating them into the batter for a fluffier texture.
- Gently fold in the cranberries at the end of mixing to avoid overworking the batter. Overmixing can result in a denser texture.
- Don’t overbake. Bake until the top of the muffins are golden brown and insert a toothpick to check for doneness. If it comes out clean with just a few moist crumbs, you can remove it from the oven.
👩🏽🍳 Troubleshooting FAQs
Dried cranberries have a stronger, more concentrated flavor, which can enhance the overall flavors of your muffins. To use them for this recipe, substitute ¾ cup sweetened dried cranberries for every 1 cup of fresh or frozen cranberries. Rehydrate dried cranberries by microwaving for 30–60 seconds or soaking in hot water for 20 minutes.
Yes, absolutely! You can use 1:1 gluten-free baking flour instead of regular all-purpose flour.
Avoid overmixing the batter, as this can lead to a denser texture. Mix until just combined to keep the muffins light and fluffy.
Yes, you can prepare the batter ahead of time and refrigerate them overnight. Alternatively, you can bake the muffins in advance and store them in an airtight container at room temperature for a day or two.
🍴 How to serve cranberry orange muffins
Cranberry orange muffins go wonderfully with a hot cup of coffee or tea. Serving them with a bit of butter or margarine, cream cheese, sour cream, yogurt, or even honey or jam complements the fresh citrus flavor of the muffins.
🍴Storage and reheating suggestions
To store leftover orange cranberry muffins, wrap them in a saran wrap or cling wrap and store at room temperature for up to three days or in the refrigerator for up to five days. Reheat by popping them in the microwave or toaster oven for 20-30 seconds.
To freeze the muffins for later, allow them to cool completely. Then, wrap them individually in plastic wraps before placing them in a freezer bag. Freeze for up to three months. Thaw at room temperature and reheat in microwave or oven toaster when ready to serve.
🍴 More delicious cranberry recipes
If you like this recipe, check out my other cranberry recipes:
Homemade Cranberry Sauce (Fresh or Frozen Cranberries!)
Kale Salad With Cranberries (5-minute Meal Prep)
Cranberry Sauce with Dried Cranberries
Elevated Canned Cranberry Sauce!
Cranberry Orange Muffins
Ingredients
- 2 cups all-purpose flour
- 2 teaspoons baking powder
- ½ teaspoon salt
- 1 cup granulated sugar
- 1 tablespoon orange zest, about 1 full orange zest
- ½ teaspoon cinnamon
- ½ cup vegetable oil
- 2 medium eggs
- ½ cup milk
- ¼ cup orange juice
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- 1½ cups cranberries, fresh or frozen
Instructions
- Preheat your oven to 400°F and prepare a 10 to 12 muffin tray lined with paper liner or silicone muffin cups.
- Bring the eggs out of the fridge to allow them to come to room temperature. Zest the oranges into a small bowl and squeeze ¼ cup of the orange juice.
- In a large bowl, sift together flour, baking powder, and salt.
- In a separate bowl, mix sugar and orange zest until evenly combined, resembling wet sand. Whisk in cinnamon, vegetable oil, milk, eggs, orange juice, and vanilla until thoroughly mixed.
- Combine the sugar mixture with the flour mixture, stirring just until no flour streaks remain.
- Gently fold in the cranberries. Divide the batter among the muffin cups and, if desired, sprinkle with additional sugar.
- Bake for 25 minutes or until the tops are golden brown, and a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean with a few crumbs. Baking time for frozen cranberries might be slightly longer.
- Allow the muffins to cool in the pan for a few minutes before removing and serving.
Notes
- If possible, use fresh cranberries. If using frozen cranberries, make sure they’re not clumped together; this ensures even distribution in the batter.
- Make sure to zest only the orange part, avoiding the bitter white pith.
- Allowing eggs to come to room temperature before incorporating them into the batter leads to a fluffier texture.
- Gently fold in the cranberries at the end of mixing to avoid overworking the batter. Overmixing can result in a denser texture.
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
I LIKE WHAT I SEE OF YOUR RECIPE. I’M NOT A CHEF JUST A PLAIN OLD MAN WHO LIKES TO COOK, I’M 89. I FOLLOW RECIPES I NEVER MADE CUP CAKE BEFORE.
Thank you!
Hello Shruti,
Love your recipes! The cheesy rice and bean burrito was a big hit with my kids🙂
My son is allergic to eggs. Can you suggest some good alternatives especially for the baked items like bread, muffins and cookies. Thanks!
Hi Hema, great to hear that! I suggest using flax eggs if possible for most baked goods!